The Set Up:
For as long as I can remember I have loved maps. I can clearly remember getting an atlas of the world as a Christmas gift one year and being totally awestruck. I can remember taking long car trips with my parents (prior to their divorce) and flipping the pages of the Rand McNally.
Why do I find maps so engaging? Why do I adore them so much? Don’t really know, to tell you the truth… and I stopped asking why a long time ago.
One of the things the internet has shown me is that I’m not the only non-cartographer map enthusiast in the world. I am, in fact, one person in a somewhat large (but widely dispersed) subculture.
And it is as a member of this map-head subculture that I bring you…
Four Links for Map-Heads:
1. A very good list of links to interesting maps via Kottle.org. Jason Kottle is one of those early bloggers who continues to put out really interesting stuff via his “liberal arts 2.0″ blog. This list of maps is one of the many great things you will find there on a daily basis. If you enjoy this list you should consider becoming a regular reader of Kottle.org.
One of the mpas ffrom the list at Kottke.org's "Ahoy maps" post.
2. The Strange Maps site of Frank Jacobs is rather awesome. From the about page of that site…
Frank Jacobs loves maps, but finds most atlases too predictable. He collects and comments on all kinds of intriguing maps—real, fictional, and what-if ones—and has been writing the Strange Maps blog since 2006, first on WordPress and now for Big Think. His map “US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs” has been viewed more than 587,000 times.
Via: Strange Maps
3. The KICKMap is something that I heard about via one of the many RSS fees I read. It is something that is truly wonderful.
From the about the KICKMap page…
The Kick Map is designed to get more people to ride New York City’s subway system. Created with clarity and ease of use, it allows riders to navigate this vast system easily and without uncertainty. The subway map is the key to understanding this most complex subway in the world, which has 26 separate lines and 468 stations. A well-designed map not only welcomes and empowers novices to use the subway but also encourages additional use for regular “home-to-work-only” commuters to use the subway for recreational destinations where they might otherwise take a car. For this reason the design of the subway map can directly influence ridership numbers and can indirectly have an effect on New York’s traffic congestion and pollution. In short, a better-designed subway map will make our subway system more open and accessible.
This can be downloaded as an iPhone app. There is a “lite” free version and a “full” paid version, and even though I don’t live anywhere near New York City, I bought it. Why? Because I’m a map-head. I’m totally blown away by how great this map is, and I wish that there was a KICKMap for Chicago.
KICKMap
If you find the idea of effectively mapping complex cities (or maps in general) even remotely interesting you should at the very least look at the map comparison section of the KICKMap site.
4. The last thing I want to link to is a book from O’Reilly Media called Beautiful Visualization.
From the discription of this book…
With contributions from more than two dozen experts, this book demonstrates why visualizations are beautiful not only for their aesthetic design, but also for elegant layers of detail that efficiently generate insight and new understanding. Think of the familiar map of the New York City subway system, or a diagram of the human brain. These older examples have been surpassed artists, designers, commentators, scientists, analysts, statisticians, and others who show how visualizations using today’s digital capabilities can help us make sense of the world.
Maps take many forms but are essentially visualizations of information. This is a really interesting book if you are a map-head.
